The presently disclosed system and method relate generally to network communication practices, and more particularly to synchronization of a network user interface and a network service device.
A network service device, such as a gateway or router, can be arranged to be accessed through a number of different network topologies, including topologies with unidirectionally triggered communication. For example, a network service device may be implemented in accordance with a web 2.0 application standard, in which the network service device provides responses to requests, but does not otherwise actively send or “push” information to another entity on the network in the absence of a request from such an entity. This type of arrangement is also referred to as pull technology, in which an initial request for data originates from a client, prompting a response from a server. Pull technology is used extensively in networks such as the internet for handling client requests from servers hosting a website, for example.
The state of a network service device is typically monitored through a User Interface (UI), which can provide a user with information related to the network service device. For example, the network service device can be a gateway, which is a telecommunications deice that can serve as a network node to provide translation or mapping of protocols between different networks, such as between a traditional telephone network and a voiceover IP (VoIP) network. An example of such a gateway, sometimes referred to as a media gateway, is the Dialogic 1000 Media Gateway series or the Dialogic 2000 Media Gateway series, which are commercially available from Dialogic Corporation of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The UI can be a web browser on a PC. The network service device can be updated or changed, such as may occur with configuration changes to the network service device, firmware updates, or system reboots. The UI may be located remotely from the network service device, and connected to the network service device through the communication network. Accordingly, updates or modifications to the network service device may or may not involve the UI, which may be rendered on a display device that is different and separate from the network service device.
In a communication network that is arranged with pull technology as described above, the network service device may be updated or modified without indicating the same to the UI. When utilizing pull technology, the UI requests data from the network device, and unprompted, the network device does not send any type of update to the UI. Accordingly, updates or modifications or other changes in state or status of the network service device go unnoticed by the UI.
Updates and changes to the network service device may implement new functions or features that should be reflected in the UI. The new functions or features that can be implemented may appear as new entries in the UI, such as may be implemented with new menu selections, push buttons, radio buttons, drop-down boxes, text boxes, or other types of representations that may be implemented in the UI for expressing information concerning the UI or the network service device.
Because of the lack of an update to the UI, errors may occur in how the UI presents data retrieved from the network service device. For example, the UI configuration may expect certain data at certain data locations derived from the network service device to be presented in the display configuration of the UI. In typical operation, the UI polls or requests small amounts of data from the network service device. For example, the UI may poll or request data for purposes such as to obtain updates of certain parameters made available by the network service device. The UI does not typically reload entire pages of data that may be available from the network service device, and does not cause itself to be re-rendered, which would implicate requests from the UI to the network service device for entire pages to be reloaded from the network service device to the UI. Instead, the use of polling and requests for data on a limited basis, or in small quantities, reduces the burden on the network service device and the communication channel between the UI and the network service device and facilitates display of information in the UI that appears to be based on a live connection. If the UI were to continually request the reload of pages, or to cause itself to be re-rendered, the performance impact would severely limit the usefulness of the UI in monitoring the network service device. For example, the reloaded or re-rendered pages would continually flash with the constant requests for page reload or re-rendering, severely detracting from the appearance of the UI. Reloaded or re-rendered pages may also change the focus of the page on a continual basis leading to undesirable operation of the UI. The focus indicates a component of the UI that is currently selected to receive input, such as providing text in a text box. The focus changes in correspondence with other components in the UI that are selected for input. If re-rendered or reloaded pages change the focus in undesired or unexpected ways from a user perspective, the usefulness of the UI can be severely curtailed. Accordingly, normal operation for the UI calls for limited amounts of data to be requested from the network service device, so that the UI can be rendered dynamically.
If the configuration of the network service device changes, the existence, locations or values of parameters or features may change, leading the UI to display incorrect or inappropriate data. In such a situation, the UI may no longer be compatible with the network service device. Various operations that may occur at the network service device that do not involve the UI include a system reboot, configuration changes and firmware updates, as well as other types of modifications that may occur to the network service device without notice to the UI. Accordingly, the UI is unaware that it should be re-rendered to properly reflect the change in state of the network service device. Due to the use of pull technology in the given network, the UI does not receive any unrequested information that might be related to re-rendering itself to update the display of the UI in accordance with the configuration changes of the network service device. Because the network service device and UI can become unsynchronized with each other, the UI may display erroneous information, such as broken menu/page links, outdated pages and invalid/outdated data.